The Operation and "Natural Laboratories"

La Operacion was a startling film that documented how effectively a government was able to control their people by deliberately limiting the amount of information they were given. In addition, the Puerto Rican government seemed so unrelenting and were convinced that sterilization was the most effective method to control birth rates. Although I feel that individuals who cannot support children should not have any, there were other methods that the government could have used to help decrease birth rates. What the film really highlighted though was the lack of rights it seemed that certain groups of women in Puerto Rico had. Their consent for the sterilization was signed by the husband and they were often unaware test subjects for new contraceptives. Even in getting sterilized, they were not told all the information which should have been given at the outset of the surgery so that they would be able to make an informed decision. This lack of information highlights how the government feared that individuals would not undergo sterilization if they were fully aware of the consequences of the surgery. The government's unwillingness to disclose important bits of information shows how they were so convinced that female sterilization was the best method towards population control and how little they respected their own people. I also feel that since the sterilization campaign was initially based on the eugenics movement, its intentions were flawed from the outset. Also, I wonder how much of this campaign to sterilize was financially motivated and how much influence the doctors who performed these surgeries had on the government.
In the same vein as the movie, "Natural Laboratories" highlights how a select group like Native Americans often have their rights violated. I feel that the main motivating reason why many pharmaceuticals test their vaccines in such a underhanded way is due to money. It is much cheaper for them to almost "trick" certain groups of individuals towards becoming test subjects and use incentives such as diapers and candy, as opposed to handing out cash. The fact that the test subjects are not properly informed, like in La Operacion, indicates that these groups testing their vaccines felt that subjects would be reluctant to participate in the test if they knew all the information regarding what was being done to them. In addition, these test groups probably realized that it would be much easier targeting individuals that unfortunately, often are discriminated against. These tests of vaccines and such without consent really shows how certain individuals were viewed almost as if they weren't human and shouldn't be afforded the same rights as others. It is interesting to note how race plays a factor in the treatment of individuals within healthcare. I'd imagine that doctors and physicians would view themselves as a healer first and that every patient was equally human. Of course, this is not always the case. The treatment of humans as test subjects without consent in a way, parallels the treatment of crossgendered individuals and their sex change surgeries occurring without their consent.
Initially, I disagreed with some aspects of the article and how it tries to portray vaccines as doing more bad than good. Although it is horrible that pharmaceuticals often take advantage of individuals, many diseases like polio that plagued individuals on a large scale longer do because of vaccines. I am sure that there are instances where vaccines have been tested legally and with full consent of the informed test subjects. At the same time though, I personally refuse to get the flu vaccine as much as my parents try to get me to get it. In the past, every time I had received the vaccine, I got sick and exhibited flu-like symptoms every time a few days afterwards, clearly a reaction to the vaccine. Since I stopped receiving the flu vaccine, I have not exhibited symptoms of the flu. My experience highlights how vaccines are not always necessary. Of course, the fact that even individuals in all social classes of America get sick, even with access to clean water and food, indicates that prevention of certain diseases may require the use of a vaccine.